William Carter said, “Emily, next Tuesday, you must wait for me at home. Not just you, but your parents as well—all of you must stay at home, don’t go anywhere. It’s best if you can each stay in separate rooms, and every room should have a lock. If anything unexpected happens, lock yourselves inside your rooms and don’t go anywhere else. I will come to find you, okay? I have something extremely important—very important! It concerns my life!”

　　His tone was very firm, very serious.

　　William Carter knew that if he mentioned the apocalypse, it would be hard for Emily Thompson to believe him. Even if she was half-convinced, she would still have to persuade her parents… Just that alone would take a lot of time.

　　If he said it was related to their lives, Emily Thompson would be even less likely to believe him, and it would be even harder to convince her parents. Her parents might even suspect he was crazy or had some ulterior motive.

　　“Lock ourselves in rooms with locks?” Emily Thompson was stunned. Was someone planning to attack them?

　　“William Carter, are you in some kind of big trouble? Is it loan sharks, the mafia, or something like that…” Emily Thompson asked anxiously.

　　“No, but it’s really very important! You have to trust me, you really, really must! This is extremely important, I’m begging you!” William Carter said.

　　He did borrow from loan sharks, but that had nothing to do with this… He wasn’t worried about that at all.

　　“This… I… okay… alright…” Emily Thompson reluctantly agreed. This really did sound too bizarre.

　　“You must do exactly as I say!” William Carter reminded her again.

　　“This…”

　　“Promise me!” William Carter said sincerely.

　　“Okay, okay…”

　　After hanging up the phone, William Carter let out a breath. He had done his best, but he didn’t know how much Emily Thompson would actually do.

　　At the very least, she should stay at home. She was a very kind-hearted person. As long as she was worried about his safety, she would listen to him and stay home.

　　As for whether Emily Thompson would survive, that was up to fate.

　　He only hoped that heaven wouldn’t let such a kind girl die in this catastrophe.

　　And as long as she was alive, William Carter believed he would definitely find her.

Chapter 4: The Modification Begins!

　　With the money Emily Thompson lent him, William Carter immediately began his purchasing spree. For some things he couldn’t buy online, he even went to the market in person. The most frustrating thing was that one of the materials wasn’t even available at the market; in the end, he had to go to an auto parts factory to get it.

　　At first, the boss didn’t want to sell it, but finally William Carter gritted his teeth and added another five hundred on top of the original price before he finally got it—and it was second-hand. When he left, seeing the boss carefully counting the money, rubbing his fingers together, William Carter just shook his head silently.

　　The boss didn’t really not want to sell; he just wanted to sell at a high price. Now that he’d made that extra five hundred, he was very happy, but a week from now, he’d realize that money wouldn’t be of any use.

　　It took a total of three days to gather all the materials, which filled the aisle and seats of the minibus. When he put the last piece of material inside, William Carter felt a huge weight lifted from his heart.

　　He had finally made it in time.

　　Over the past three days, he had been running all over, almost covering the entire Jiangbei City. Probably because it was his first time modifying, the materials he needed were just too varied and too many, covering almost every aspect.

　　At the same time, William Carter was also keeping an eye on the news and the situation in Jiangbei City. He found that, just as he expected, fewer and fewer big shots were appearing in the news. Although everything seemed normal on the streets, he had a feeling that undercurrents were surging.

　　“Let’s begin…” William Carter pulled all the curtains shut, then sat in the driver’s seat. After steadying his breathing, he gripped the steering wheel with both hands.

　　Immediately, the structure of the minibus was clearly projected in his mind, as if he had gained a special “eye” for scanning the vehicle.

　　Wherever he looked, the data and condition of that part of the minibus would immediately appear.

　　The overall status of the minibus was: Base Vehicle (Standard), awaiting modification.

　　Materials detected to be complete. Begin modification?

　　William Carter silently said in his mind, “Modify!”

　　Modification started. Completion time: seventy-two hours from now. Countdown begins. Before modification is complete, this vehicle cannot be driven. Modification includes: …

　　William Carter only felt that the steering wheel in his hands suddenly gained a strange power, as if it was trembling slightly.

　　The modification would take a long time, and William Carter couldn’t possibly stay in the vehicle the whole time. He just sat in the driver’s seat out of curiosity for a while, and noticed that every so often, some of the materials would mysteriously disappear. Other than that, there didn’t seem to be anything special. After that, he got out of the vehicle.

　　Standing outside, William Carter saw nothing unusual, so he went home at ease.

　　As soon as he opened the door, he was greeted by all kinds of supplies almost piled up to the entrance, all delivered over the past three days. Even the deliverymen were looking at William Carter with strange expressions.